How to Read a Paper [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Trisha Greenhalgh (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2001 | ISBN-10: 0727915789 | ISBN-13: 978-0727915788 | Edition: 2

In this lucid, readable book Trisha Greenhalgh provides the basics of evidence based medicine: how to find a medical research paper, assess it for its scientific validity, and where relevant, put the findings into practice.
Written for anyone, medically qualified or not, who wishes to understand and apply evidence based medicine, How to Read a Paper makes seemingly obscure concepts clear and relevant, using practical examples and considering all the main types of research paper.
This book is a comprehensive introduction to the usefulness and potential applications of evidence based medicine in the clinical setting.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This book should have equal appeal for the first year medical students and grey-haired consultants, and deserves to be widely read" Professor Sir David Weatherall --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Back Cover

In this lucid, readable book Trisha Greenhalgh provides the basics of evidence based medicine: how to find a medical research paper, assess it for its scientific validity, and where relevant, put the findings into practice.
Written for anyone, medically qualified or not, who wishes to understand and apply evidence based medicine, How to Read a Paper makes seemingly obscure concepts clear and relevant, using practical examples and considering all the main types of research paper.
This book is a comprehensive introduction to the usefulness and potential applications of evidence based medicine in the clinical setting.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 222 pages
• Publisher: BMJ Books; 2 edition (February 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727915789
• ISBN-13: 978-0727915788
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,386,071 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good place to start, March 31, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Read a Paper: The Basics of Evidence Based Medicine (Paperback)

Greenhalgh's book is a good place to start if you want to learn how to consume research articles. The target audience for this book is those primarily interested in health research, but it useful for all those who must make their way through journal articles. Greenhalgh goes through the basics and touches on important issues. However, it is important to point out that this book is only a first step in understanding how to read journal articles.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good guide to EBM, July 15, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: How to Read a Paper (Paperback)

Greenhalgh's book is a great read for someone familiar with medical and research terminology. As a med student, I loved it and found it very practical. It contains a great deal of material on how to evaluate the type, methodology, and statistical methods of research papers. There is no glossary, and in places the layout is hard to look at.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lot of qualitative info to better assess quantitative medical research, August 14, 2009

By 

Gaetan Lion - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: How to Read a Paper: The Basics of Evidence Based Medicine (Paperback)

This is a very readable and informative book on how to read and assess medical research papers. The author touches on something broadly applicable to almost any field, and that is how to exercise critical thinking, how to ask the right questions, what logical traps to avoid. This is so doctors don't get fooled by eager pharmaceuticals representatives; Also, for patients to educate themselves in Bayesian statistics so they can overcome their doctors flawed tests recommendations. This book will also help researchers conduct their own experiment in integer ways to derive informative results for society at large. It will also help policymakers not being fooled by flawed research studies.

The author has been criticized for not often technically describing the statistical tests she refers to. But, this was not the author's purpose. She states right upfront in the preface, if you want to dig deep into the technicalities get Clinical Epidemiology: A Basic Science for Clinical Medicine. The author has conveyed something more important than providing another treaty in statistical epidemiology. Frankly, if you are interested in the various statistical tests, Wikipedia will do just fine. But, what tests to use when and how are very important considerations she addresses with much expertise. What analytical framework and methodology to use in what research situation. How to judge if such research conducted by others used inappropriate frameworks. Those are tough issues often more difficult to handle proficiently than conducting statistical tests.

She provides extensive information on related subjects. Her introduction to Bayesian statistics in chapter seven is really clear. She explains the likelihood ratio in the most straightforward way I have seen yet. Her chapter on economic analysis is surprisingly insightful as she defines all the different types of such analysis. Appendix I consists in a very rich set of checklists for finding, appraising, and implementing [medical] evidence. It is a good reference guide to the entire material within the book. Her chapter on statistics for the non-statisticians is outstanding. She actually teaches you a lot about statistics without going into the math. She even uncovers several traps that many professional statisticians may fall into especially when blinded by economic interests. Her discussion on distinguishing causation from correlation or regression is well thought out.

In summary, this book offers a lot of valuable qualitative information to better interpret quantitative research for both the layperson and the expert alike.